


Gravity

by starlightwalking



Series: Modern Middle-earth [4]
Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types
Genre: Astronauts, Gen, Magic and Science, Modern Middle Earth, Tolkien Mythology, space travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-23
Updated: 2018-03-23
Packaged: 2019-04-06 23:57:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14068392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starlightwalking/pseuds/starlightwalking
Summary: After returning from a walk on the moon, Fili has some questions for Gandalf, and Gandalf has someone he'd like Fili to meet.





	Gravity

**Author's Note:**

  * For [moonrunes](https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonrunes/gifts).



> Happy (belated) birthday, River!!!!  
> I originally intended for this to be about Fili and Boromir bonding over being aro but somehow that didn't even make it into the final cut. Just know it's implied, okay? :)  
> This is just as much of an attempt to reconcile the weird "science" and mythology Tolkien came up with for Middle-earth with my Modern Middle-earth AU as it is self-indulgent fluff about two of my favorite characters interacting when they never would in canon. I think you'll like it, though! The "science" I've made up is pretty Out There and VERY magical, but I had fun with it.  
> This is a prequel to a longer fic that's Coming Soon™. It's set in the same universe as my qp!Gigolas fics. This fic is several decades after the events of the Hobbit but still awhile before the events of LOTR; the Gigolas fics are set well after LOTR. My upcoming fic will take place during LOTR!  
> This also includes an explanation as to why Dain is King in this AU (like I said in a throwaway line in Excuses), because I was NOT about to kill of my Very Favorite Durin Boys. They just had lots of stuff going on - the throne just got passed down to the only Durin who was more interested than being king than he is falling in love with the wrong person or, idk, going to space! (aro dain, anyone? i already headcanon my oc for his wife as aro, lol)  
> Hope you enjoy!!! & Happy birthday River!!!

Walking on the ground felt...funny. Fíli was used to zero gravity, and while it wasn't like he'd forgotten how to walk, he wasn't accustomed to it after the months he'd spent in outer space.

After greeting the welcoming committee and reporting to his superiors at the Interkingdom Space Travel Administration, his first trip was back home to Erebor. It had been ages since he'd seen his brother, and he needed to check up on Dáin. Thorin and Bilbo had traveled all the way from the Shire to greet him at ISTA's headquarters in Mithlond, and he'd been delighted to see them, but he needed to reunite with the rest of his family, too.

"Ah, Fíli!" a familiar voice rumbled. Fíli turned to smile at Gandalf, still dressed in the odd vagabondish trenchcoat he always wore. "Welcome back to Arda!"

"Thanks!" he replied. "It's nice to see you. Are you visiting anyone in particular at ISTA?"

"Actually, I came to speak to you," Gandalf said. "Círdan received me happily, though I'm sure he'd like some notice of my visits, but—I've much to say to you, sir, much to say."

"Why don't you fill me in, then?" Fíli said. "I'm heading back to Erebor this afternoon."

"Excellent." Gandalf fished around in his pocket and pulled out an ancient and battered wallet. "I'll take you out to coffee. There's someone I'd like you to meet."

As they walked, Fíli remarked, "You're one of the Ainur, aren't you? I think I heard Director Círdan say that in one of the classes he taught me." He'd known Gandalf for years, but the wizard cloaked himself in so much mystery that he had never been sure if that particular rumor was true.

"If Círdan said it, it must be true," Gandalf said vaguely.

"Don't be coy," Fíli rebuked. "You nearly led me to my death when we reclaimed Erebor, I deserve a few straight answers from you."

"I ensured you this position in ISTA," Gandalf pointed out. "Círdan doesn't take on many who aren't elves, you know."

"Of course I know, I'm the only dwarf astronaut I've ever met!" Fíli said. "And I haven't forgotten, nor stopped being thankful, even if I did have to cede my right to the throne to take this opportunity. But now that I'm so familiar with space travel, and I've walked on the moon—well, I've got a few questions for you."

"Like what?" Gandalf asked.

"The ancient tales said that when Eru created Arda, it wasn't round, and that the sun and the moon didn't come until after the Flight of the Noldor," Fíli said.

"Círdan taught you all that?" Gandalf said, raising an eyebrow. "I didn't think you'd care to learn about elvish lore."

"I'm a smart man," Fíli said. "Science and history are so intermingled, I need to know both. Even if it's taught with an elven bias." He frowned, continuing, "Círdan's been in what's left of Beleriand since the First Age, and you—you're eternal." He looked up at the ragged, elderly form before him somewhat dubiously. "I don't deny immortality and basic scientific anatomy and all, and it's hard to deny a deity when it's literally staring you in the face, but...I've walked on the moon, Gandalf. And it's a rock in space, not a chariot of light drawn by Tilion the Maia."

"Mmm," Gandalf said. "That is a fair point. Have you not asked Círdan?"

"Elves are vague with dwarves," Fíli said. "I'm surprised he's taught me this much."

"My influence, no doubt," Gandalf said.

"Do you have any answers?" Fíli demanded. "How can it all be true? I saw no Tilion, yet you are evidently a Maia like him. Círdan recalls a time when Arda was  _flat_ , but I've seen it's round with my own eyes!"

Gandalf shrugged. "There's a reason ISTA is mostly made up of elves, Fíli. They can see the world in its physical and its spiritual forms. Círdan and his people built ships that sailed out of the sea and past the horizon! Of course it would be he who would develop space travel. It's the same principle."

"What?" Fíli asked. He thought he understood where Gandalf was going with this, but even his highly trained mind had trouble wrapping itself around the concept of a spiritual Arda.

"The only reason he agreed to take you on is because a mortal like you and the humans who accompanied you to the moon do  _not_  experience the spirit of Arda," Gandalf explained. "Magic and spirit, it's different for you. You cannot pass into Aman through the space between the stars: that space is literal for you. Your ship carried you to the physical moon, shining with physical light from the sun. The elves on your mission  _did_  see Tilion. They rode his chariot round the world. You proved Círdan's theory of spiritual matter."

Fíli furrowed his brows. "I...think I get it?" he said. "Mortals can't go to Valinor. Immortals, like you and the elves, can. So...the moon is like a halfway point between the two, right? I step on a chunk of space rock, and I couldn't go further. An elf wouldn't need a spacesuit to even exist out there, because their spirit would sustain itself?"

"Hmm," Gandalf said, nodding slowly. "It's a beginning."

"But—that's  _fascinating_!" Fíli exclaimed, his eyes alight. "Has Círdan written any papers on this? I'd love to research more! To be in two places at once...does this apply to Arda as well? Is this world only physical while Aman is only spiritual? How far into space could a mortal get before our earthbound spirits give out?"

"These are questions for Círdan, not I," Gandalf said. "I am no scientist, for all I am indeed a Maia. Ah! Here we are!"

Fíli's mind was so awhir thinking about this new concept of spiritual physics that he didn't even notice that they had arrived until that moment. He blinked, taking in the scene: a small cafe in the quiet side of Mithlond, empty save for a melancholy elven waitress and a human man sipping tea by an outdoor table.

Gandalf waved to the waitress, who perked up the moment she saw him. "May I take your order?" she asked as they approached.

"One medium black coffee," Gandalf said. "That's all."

"I'll take my coffee with cream," Fíli said. The waitress scribbled down their orders and walked off, casting a curious glance behind her. Fíli supposed she didn't often see dwarves around Mithlond, still a primarily elven land even in today's cosmopolitan Middle-earth.

"Good morning, Mithrandir!" the human said brightly, waving them over.

"Who's this?" Fíli asked as he sat down at the table.

"This is the person I wanted you to meet," Gandalf said. "Fíli, this is Lord Boromir of Gondor. My lord, this is Master Fíli of ISTA."

Boromir beamed, reaching out a hand. "Master Fíli! I am honored to meet you!"

"My lord," Fíli said, shaking his hand. "It's a pleasure."

"Just call me Boromir," he said. "You have no idea how much I've admired you from afar, Master Fíli!"

"Fíli is fine," he said. "Really? I may be a member of ISTA, but it's hardly like I was the first person to step foot on the moon!"

"Third isn't so bad," Gandalf chuckled. The waitress came back with their coffees, which Fíli took gratefully.

"Still." Fíli sipped his drink, flinching as he realized it was too hot. Sighing, he set it aside—only to yelp with surprise at it fell to the ground and spilled scalding liquid everywhere, the cup shattering.

"Damnit!" he exclaimed. "I forgot—gravity!"

Boromir laughed uproariously. The waitress hurried back over to clean up, and Fíli knelt back down to help her, apologizing several times over.

"You're from ISTA, aren't you?" she asked. When he nodded sheepishly, she only clucked her tongue. "Of course. Well, apology accepted. I  _will_  need you to pay for the drink, though. And the cup."

Fíli agreed and forked over the cash. When everything was tidied and Fíli was a little bit less embarrassed, he sat up and cleared his throat. Boromir sat watching the scene with amusement, but Gandalf—

"Where did he go?" Fíli wondered.

Boromir frowned. "I'm not sure. He does tend to disappear."

Fíli sighed. "Of course he does. I'm glad I'm never going to go on another mission with  _him_."

"You went to space with Mithrandir?" Boromir asked eagerly.

"Oh—no!" Fíli laughed. "Do you remember when Erebor was reclaimed and the dragon Smaug destroyed? I was much younger then, but I accompanied him on that quest, along with many of my kin."

"That must have been the wildest road trip of the Age!" Boromir exclaimed.

"It was no picnic, I can assure you," Fíli agreed. "So, you're from Gondor? That's quite a ways from Mithlond."

"My father sent me on a diplomatic mission to Ered Luin," Boromir explained. "Mithrandir met me while I was there, and said he knew someone I'd like to meet. I'm thankful for the opportunity! I always wanted to be an astronaut like you, when I was a lad."

"Why did you not?" Fíli asked.

"Childhood dreams rarely come true!" Boromir said. "And I have other duties. My father is Steward of Gondor, and I his heir. I could not leave my people."

Fíli bit his lip uncomfortably. "Of course."

"But I always admired you for achieving your goals," he continued. "After all—you were a prince, were you not?"

"Yes," Fíli admitted. "I must seem irresponsible, for abandoning my people to go to space."

"Not at all! Erebor fares well with King Dáin upon the throne," Boromir assured. "Is he your brother?"

"My cousin," Fíli said. "After the struggle for Erebor, my uncle Thorin ruled for a few decades, but he grew unhappy upon the throne. He abdicated and moved to the Shire, and married his beloved. I would have inherited, had I not already ceded my claim to kingship. ISTA's program was my life's work, and far too consuming to allow for a kingship as well!"

"So it passed next to your cousin?"

"Yes—my brother Kíli ceded his right to the crown as well, when he married his sweetheart Tauriel." Upon Boromir's confused look, he elaborated, "She's an elf, and we came from more conservative times!"

"Ah!" Boromir nodded thoughtfully. "I see. He, ah...chose love over duty."

There was a tinge of disapproval in his voice, and Fíli felt the need to defend his brother. "To him it was as unbearable as the thought of me giving up my career. We have different priorities."

"I apologize," Boromir said. "That is not what I meant. I respect your choice and his as well—indeed, there have been times where I wished I had mustered the courage to follow my heart like you did. But in the end I love Gondor, and even if I will never walk on the moon, I have my people to strengthen me."

"I've got my regrets, too," Fíli admitted. "I was raised on the thought of being king—but when it came down to it, I was no prince like Thorin or Dáin. They knew Erebor far better than me, the dwarf raised in the Blue Mountains and dreaming of the stars. My heart is in the night sky, though I'll always love my home, too." He sighed. "I miss Erebor. I'm flying home tonight."

"I'm going home tonight, too," Boromir said. "I've got a layover in Rivendell first, though."

"Hey—so do I!" Fíli smiled. "Maybe we're on the same plane."

Boromir checked his watch. "I'd better get going," he said. "It was wonderful talking to you, Fíli. Thank you for talking with me."

"Of course," Fíli said, standing up. "I hope we meet again, sooner rather than later." He took a few steps away from the table and nearly tripped over his own feet. "Ah!" he exclaimed. "Still not used to gravity."

Boromir grabbed his elbow to help steady him, a smile on his face. "It's alright—I'm not either, and I've never left it."


End file.
